I love crispy wafer-like cookies and I get them when I make Pizzelles.  Pizzelles are a wafer-like cookie or pastry if you will, made in a flat decorative iron.  They are Italian in origin but are very similar to the Norwegian Krumkake which is also made in a flat decorative iron, though as thin as the Pizzelle is, the Krumkake is even thinner.

The recipe that I have for the Pizzelle is quite large and makes a large quantity.  The reason for the large quantity is that the cookie is so thin that it only take a tablespoon or less for each one – and they are at least 6″ in diameter.  This time that I made them, I made them Chocolate so that both myself and my husband would be able to enjoy the treat.  Ev loves Chocolate and I love anything thin so the Chocolate Pizzelle were perfect. Because the recipe makes such a huge quantity, I only made a half recipe.  (Next time I will make a third recipe)  Since the recipe calls for 6 eggs, dividing it half was pretty simple.  Dividing into thirds will also be simple, but if I make it any smaller, it wouldn’t be worth the trouble to do it.

In addition to loving thin crispy cookies, I also love Marshmallows and if you have ever had homemade Marshmallows, you would never ever eat a commercially manufactured one again.  To most people it would seem that Marshmallows are difficult make, but the opposite is true.  The main ingredients in Marshmallows are Egg Whites (only 2), Sugar and Gelatin.  You can get at least 16 2″square Marshmallows out of one recipe.

Since I like Pizzelle and love Marshmallows, I also made some Chocolate Pizzelle/Marshmallow Treats which were like little sandwiches with Marshmallow in the middle and Chocolate Pizzelle on the outside.  But since we are only a household of two and we don’t have company every week you eventually either get tired of eating the treats that were made or they get stale.  The Pizzelle were still edible after one week but they were getting a little soft and we were ready for something else.

As I said previous;y, Ev, my husband loves Chocolate and I make him a Chocolate Treat every week. Sometimes it is Chocolate Chip Cookies, sometimes it is Brownies and this time it was Pizzelle but as I said, after a week we were getting somewhat tired of the Pizzelle and even the Marshmallows so I decided to reinvent them or create a new treat, thereby coming up with Culinary Makeover #19 which was Chocolate Pizzelle/Marshmallow Brownies.

To make the Brownies, I first pulverized the remaining Pizzelle in the Food Processor and then transferred them to a Dry Measuring Cup (1 cup size)

Broken-up Pizzelle in Food Processor Workbowl

Next, I broke up the Pizzelle/Marshmallow Sandwiches and chopped them up.

To make the Brownies I used my ‘Go-To’ Brownie recipe for Fudge Brownies.  The only difference was that I had 1 cup of pulverized Brownies.  The 1 cup of Pulverized Brownies replaced one cup of the Flour in the recipe.  So we had 1 cup of Pulverized Brownies and 1/4 cup of All-Purpose Flour.  I also reduced the Sugar to less than 1 cup.

After making the Brownie Batter, I folded in the chopped up Marshmallows and baked them as usual.

The result was a delicious, moist Brownie that had a cake-like texture but was very good and enjoyed by both my husband and myself.

You can use any kind of stale cookies to make the Brownies – doesn’t have to be Pizzelle and other leftover baked goods can be utilized in the same manner.  Try it yourself and experiment to create totally new delights.  This treat is also good with Ice Cream!